A long and difficult season is slowly coming to an end for the Ottawa Senators.
From an organizational stand point, there isn’t a whole lot left to play for. Most of the talk lately from fans has centred on the possibility of improving the team’s draft lottery chances at the end of the year. And while that conversation was premature a couple months ago, it’s legitimate at this point in the season.
Players don’t think that way though. For the young guys on the team, these remaining six games are a chance to show they deserve a spot on next year’s team. For some of the more veteran guys, it’s about closing out a disappointing year on a high note and in some cases, battling for spots in the upcoming World Championships and World Cup.
Six games to go.
Up next- a Canadian counterpart dealing with a similarly frustrating 2015/2016 season.
This Winnipeg Jets team seemed poised to take a big step forward this year but it just hasn’t worked out that way. Their roster is filled with young talent obviously but in a competitive Western Conference, they never seemed to establish themselves this year. They come into tonight’s game with a 31-38-7 record which has them sitting in 26th place overall.
Like the Senators, the Jets are looking ahead to what should be an extremely important off season for their franchise.
Based on yesterday’s practice, it doesn’t seem like there will be any surprises in the lineup. Patrick Wiercioch joined the team for practice yesterday but is not expected to play. Up front, Scott Gomez looks like the odd man out.
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Andrew Hammond gets the start for Ottawa. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
